22 years since the Lions had been to Australasia and they would still face a powerful opposition from both New Zealand & Australia. The touring party of 29 was skippered by Englands Doug Prentice and 100 players had been approached before the squad was found. This trip was the fifth to Australia and New Zealand and perhaps the first genuine British Isles team.
The Lions fielded some outstanding players, such as stand-off Roger Spong, centre Harry Bowcott and full-back Jack Bassett as well as the great Welsh flanker Ivor Jones in the pack, but their defence was never as impressive as their attacking prowess. This led to one win in New Zealand at test level in the first test when a try on the final whistle by Jack Morley, set up by Jones breaking half the length of the field, gave the tourists a 6-3 victory. New Zealand playing in white to avoid a colour clash with the Lions’ navy blue, came back to win the remaining three matches, by 13-10, 15-10 and 22-8. The Lions did manage to win 15 of their 21 games in New Zealand before moving on to play a further seven matches in Australia , including a one-off Test that they lost 6-5 after narrowly failing to score in the dying minutes, they did however win five of the six non tests.